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Tag: Kelly Gallagher

“the ability to evaluate and judge is not a school skill, it is a life skill.”

– Kelly Gallagher

I’m working through the different real world writing purposes in Write Like This. In the chapter on Evaluate and Judge, Gallagher gives many examples of evaluation in life: print ads, YouTube videos, commercials, websites, and presidential candidates.

Gallagher states in this book, and repeats, “it is valuable for students to watch their teacher produce a crummy first draft; it gives them an honest look at how writing is produced. In fact, modeling on days when I don’t write very well may actually be more valuable than modeling on a day when my writing is flowing.” Therefore, I will continue to share my writing for each of these purposes, even though these first drafts aren’t spectacular writing.

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With the upcoming election, this year will be a great opportunity to teach students how to evaluate and judge candidates. And then hopefully these skills will transfer to literature as well. So, today I am going to Evaluate and Judge a YouTube video – kids (including my own) do spend a lot of time there.

I found this series by Kid President: Awesome Girls! And I thought it was the perfect thing to write about. Especially after the amazing essay by Jennifer Aniston. Here are the links. You need to watch them!

The purpose of this campaign is to make sure that girls know how amazing they are and to remind everyone that girls should be cheered on. The audience being twofold: the girls that need to be encouraged and the people who need to encourage them.

The first video linked above is Kid President introducing the idea of Awesome Girls and explaining his (and his brother’s) purpose for this campaign. He also asks for help, for people to share examples of awesome girls using the hashtag #KPAwesomegirls.

In the second video, Kid President shares his struggle being a boy and doing this campaign about girls. There are two videos of Robby (KP) juxtaposed, one being the inner voice supporting girls, and the other being a “typical boy” inner voice. He asks, “What about awesome boys?” And then he explains to himself that supporting girls isn’t saying that he doesn’t support boys, it is just that girls don’t have all of the opportunities that boys have. (Sound familiar to something else that has been all over the news?) The two “voices” side by side is very effective in bringing up counterarguments in order to argue against them. Way to go KP team!

The final video linked above, is Kid President talking to Rachel Platten. She encourages him to not feel awkward against girls and gives great advice to girls across the world. This one is a great message from a successful girl and would be even more focused on a female audience. She tells KP that as a young girl she was very hard on herself and never felt like enough. Which one of us haven’t felt that way? It is so important for kids to hear they are not alone in the way they are feeling.

And the video concludes with Rachel Platten finishing the sentence that KP always asks, “The world would be a better place if…”

“…if we understood how similar we are to each other. […] if we were all a little kinder to each other. […]”

Another real life writing purpose that Kelly Gallagher addresses in Write Like This is Take a Stand and Propose a Solution. Gallagher wants his students to not just give an opinion, but to also give solutions. Therefore, the activity I am trying out today is “Five Things You Can Do To _________.”

3 Things You Can Do to Be a Good Teacher AND a Good Mom

I don’t know about you all, but it can be hard to find a balance between being the teacher your students need and being the mom that your kids need. I am by far the perfect example, but after the last seven years I have been able to find a few tips that have helped.

Use your personal days.

I don’t think I used any of my personal days my first year of teacher and only took sick days if I was very sick. But, I have learned that the personal days are given for a reason. For me, that reason is time with my son. Now, I take all of my personal days and use them for time with my son. I take off for his birthday so I can be there when he wakes up and when he gets off the bus. I volunteer for Author’s Day at school every year and we get to spend the day together with some other kids at his school, learning, reading, writing, playing. And then one more day, different each year. Regardless of what is happening at school, I don’t feel guilty for taking these days. This is time with my son that I will never regret!

Bring your kid to work.

My students know I have a son, my son knows that I have students. However, when they meet, each realizes the other is a real live human. And you are a real live person outside of you time with them. My son knows how amazing these kids are that I spend my days with and he understands why I care about them. He knows that there are 28 reasons I can’t be there when he gets off the bus every day.

Time with your kids first, school work later.

I do plenty of work at home, as do all of you, I am sure. However, I try to do it after spending some quality time with my son. I pick him up, we eat dinner, we talk and maybe play. Then, after he has had my uninterrupted attention, I get some work done. This is a big one I had to learn when he was younger and I was in college. I could get a lot more done if I spent time with him FIRST and then worked. Plus, I am sending him the message that he is my number one!

Apparently iMAgiNiff is a board game that I missed out on as a child. It is also an inspiration for an activity in the Analyze and Interpret chapter. This one seems like lots of fun and would be great analyzing practice as a Morning Meeting activity with my new fifth graders. It could also be used to reflect on characters in books.

Pose a question for students to answer, explaining their reasoning. For example: “Imagine if _________ were a character in a Western film. Which would he be? a) Sheriff b) Outlaw c) Deputy d) Farmer e) Stagecoach Driver f) Barkeep”

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Since Michelle is hosting the Big Time Blogging Challenge this month, and that is why I have been writing every day, I am going to use her. Thanks Michelle!

If Michelle were a character in a Western film, she would be the barkeep.

Michelle is a social butterfly and can talk to anyone. She can serve people their selected beverage and make them feel at home. This is similar to what she does as a literacy coach, she has to develop relationships and make teachers comfortable with her. She knows when to help and provide support. She knows exactly when to hold back.

Everyone tells their secrets to the bartender. People can spill their guts to her and she can keep a neutral expression, not always needing to give an opinion. Let me tell you, co-plans can be tense! But, I have heard more than one teacher say that Michelle knows how to stay cool and not take sides.

Finally, when push comes to shove, Michelle is capable of putting people in their place! Chairs fly, glasses break. Someone has to put an end to it…

In his book Write Like This, Kelly Gallagher shares six real world writing purposes and different ways to get kids to start writing with each in mind. I’m going to try at least one example from each chapter. Although this is written with high school in mind, I think most of the ideas can be adjusted for middle and intermediate elementary school. And the real world writing purposes:

There are so many great ideas for Inform and Explain. Here are a few of my favorites:

“You Should Know” Biographical Paper (“Find an ‘average’ person in your life with an ‘above average’ story.”)

How does _______work?

Unwritten Rules (Inspired by The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian)

My Favorite Words

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Today I am going to try “My Favorite Words.” Christina, this one is for you, my word loving friend! The word I decided to write about isn’t in all dictionaries and I hadn’t actually heard of it until today: querencia.

Querencia

noun

Definition according to www.merriam-webster.com: “an area in the arena taken by the bull for a defensive stand in a bullfight”

I’m not a huge word person, so when approaching this idea, I searched around a little on Pinterest for words. (To clarify: I consider myself a reader and writer. It’s just that I’m not one to use big words when a simple one to do. I love stories, words strung together.) In my search I found this:

This word alone didn’t stand out, it is it’s definition that struck me. “the place where you are your most authentic self” This is a powerful word and got me to thinking about my querencia. Do I have one?

For a very long time, I don’t think that I had a querencia. I’m not sure I do now. At this point, my home is becoming a place I am comfortable. Each new memory, each laugh, erases some of the damage done. Each smile makes me feel safer. One day, this home may become a place that I can draw strength, my querencia.

I think the place that I have always been able to be closest to my authentic self is in the presence of children. Standing among kids, I have always been able to take chances – dance, twirl, joke, and even sing. I have always drawn strength from my time with them and not needed courage to be myself.

I hope that my classroom can be a querencia for my students, as well. I hope that my students feel safe, at home, and accepted each year. I hope that my students have a querencia in their life, but if they don’t – I hope our classroom can be that place for each of them.

Most of the chapters of Write Like This are organized by purpose. In the Express and Reflect chapter, one idea I tried is childhood games.

Today I’m trying “Things I find disturbing…” from the Inquire and Explore chapter. The idea is to write a list and then choose something from the list to write long about – Why do you find that thing disturbing.

Another option he suggests is for students to research using the newspaper and find articles that are disturbing to them, research, and then write about that. However, based on the horrible things I am sure to find in the news this week, I am going to go a little less research-based and more light-hearted…shopping carts. Here is my flash draft…

Why do I find people leaving shopping carts in the parking lot, not in the cart corral, so annoying?

I have very early memories of sitting in the car hoping my mother would not get back out of the car to yell at the person leaving the shopping cart in the parking lot. I have other memories of my mother reprimanding people for leaving the shopping cart in the parking lot.

Oh, and there is that time that my aunt, my mother’s twin, got out of the car. My mom, my sisters, cousins, and I sat watching her chew out some unsuspecting shopper. Awkward!

I am not the type of person to give a random stranger a piece of my mind. When I see a shopping cart sitting alone in the middle of the parking lot, I push it to a corral or push it inside. My son is used to it at this point. If the person that left it there is still near, a dirty look is all I share.

As a new mom, getting the groceries and the kid in the car wasn’t simple. However, I was never willing to leave the cart, so I started parking right next to the cart corrals. Problem solved. Try it people!

For some reason, there are never cart corrals near the handicapped parking…What’s with that? Yet, I once saw a lady that was obviously having trouble walking, push her cart up to the other carts in front and then struggle back to her car in the handicapped lane. I remember thinking, “If she can do it, why can’t everyone?!”

So, I guess my answer is that putting shopping carts away has been ingrained in me since childhood. I wonder if one day my son with have the same issue?

Next year will bring a new adventure for me – I am moving on up to fifth grade. This means a new curriculum, a new developmental age, and a new group of writers. In preparation, I started reading Write Like This by Kelly Gallagher.

After the first chapter, the chapters are organized by purpose. Already, I am trying to figure out how I can blend this with Lucy and my Writing Workshop.

Chapter 2 is focused on Express and Reflect and it is filled with so many great strategies to teach the kids. I can’t wait to use them during the first month of workshop in August/September: Bucket List, Neighborhood Spot, Family Photo…

The one that got me writing in my notebook: Childhood Game. Gallagher suggests that writers make a list of childhood games and then choose one to write about that “Taught you something beyond the game itself.”

Here is my draft:

I loved playing Monopoly, but I was never any good until I learned what the word monopoly means – one person owns everything. Then, I crushed it.

If I landed on it, I bought it (even if that meant mortgaging my properties). It payed off in the long run. I’ve only lost one time since that realization.

Looking back on it – Monopoly taught me that you can only win if you go all in. You have to put everything you have into something – 120% if you want to come out on top. No playing it safe. It gets scary, but don’t give up until you’ve got nothing left. That ca$h will come rolling in!